Republican Attorneys General Challenge Tech Giants Over Renewable Energy Credit Claims
Attorney generals for 16 states which voted for President Trump in the last presidential election are challenging the four of the nation's biggest internet technology companies over the latter’s claims of using renewable energy credits to be powered 100% by clean energy.
The letter written to legal leadership at Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google decried the companies’ alleged use of “environmental accounting gimmicks” to claim decarbonization goals are being met. None of the four have been charged in a case releated to the letter, but the attorneys general are expressing skepticism and alleging misleading actions.
The Sept. 24 letterhead was topped by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, but included signing by his counterparts in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google are all known for announcing long-term renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) to finance clean energy projects and use credits to offset their energy emission profiles. Under PPAs companies rarely receive the energy directly, but the investment does not help finance construction and commissioning of utility-scale renewable energy projects.
The Republican state attorneys general are skeptical, to say the least, noting the utility grid in the U.S. is about 60% powered by carbon rich resources such as natural gas and coal. Some 30% is powered by nuclear, hydro, wind and solar, which are considered carbon-free at the point of generation.
“To make these claims, companies engage in a shell game whereby they purchase unbundled “renewable energy certificates” (RECs) and then claim the “renewable” attribute of energy that is used by someone else as their own energy usage,” reads the state attorneys general letter.
“Major tech companies use unbundled RECs to claim that they have achieved 100% renewable energy “use " or "consumption,” and have reduced their emissions,” the letter reads. “Both types of claims appear to be deceptive or misleading. Purchasing unbundled RECs does not mean that the companies are using renewable energy, or that they are reducing emissions.”
The American utility grid is decarbonizing but. . .
A 2025 report by World Resources Institute contradicts the attorneys general contention that renewable PPAs do not decarbonize the U.S. energy landscape, noting that more than 400 GW of solar, wind and battery storage have been deployed nationwide. Many of these large-scale renewable energy farms capable of 100 MW and above were financed at least partially with PPA commitment of companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google.
“These upward trends signal that clean electricity sources are an increasingly vital part of the U.S. economy and power system, with renewable sources and battery storage making up the vast majority of new additions to the grid,” the WRI report reads.
Renewable energy resources such as wind and solar, sans the balancing impact of battery storage, can be intermittent since, as many have noted, “the wind does not always blow, and the sun does not always shine.”
Sixteen of the nation’s Republican state attorneys general argue that this intermittency is a key negative factor on the resiliency of the grid. Indeed, the American Society of Civil Engineers graded U.S. energy infrastructure at a lowly D+ earlier this year in its quadrennial report card but blamed much of that on aging equipment which is not upgraded to deal with 21st century challenges.
The states’ elected and appointed legal minds say that it’s renewable energy’s fault, or certainly that of Big Tech companies purporting to use those resources.
“When Big Tech companies claim to use 100% renewable energy, they pressure utilities to move away from fossil-fuel-generated baseload power to attract or retain big tech data center development,” reads the AGs’ letter, quoting other sources. “For example, Google boasts that it is not only “advocating for [clean] energy policies,” it is also using its “purchasing demand to accelerate the commercialization of advanced [clean energy] technologies” and “prioritizing clean energy procurement.”
Misleadingly carbon-free to lock up nuclear and lock out consumers?
Certainly, the looming rise of data center and AI load growth is pushing digital infrastructure entities to seek more flexible and baseload power resources such as conventional nuclear and small modular reactors of the future. The 16 state attorneys argue that these companies are locking up more “reliable” power while potentially locking normal customers out.
“Big tech’s efforts to lock up nuclear power are necessary for tech companies to actually meet their net-zero commitments—commitments which are currently propped up by misleading climate marketing based on unbundled REC use,” the letter reads. “But if these sources of reliable power are reserved for tech companies, Americans will be left with less reliable energy.”
All four of the companies have previously announced net-zero goals in line with the Paris Accords, while some companies say they have achieved net zero in Scope 1 emissions. The Republican attorneys general say this is misleading and has forced the closure of reliable power plants both coal-fired and nuclear.
Some utility and power generation entities are reopening or keeping open certain nuclear plants thanks to long-term nuclear PPAs with firms such as Microsoft and Meta.
President Trump and some of his executive branch agencies such as the Department of Energy and Interior have withdrawn funding for billions of dollars in previously approved and sometimes under-construction renewable energy projects.
About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.